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Global CE Sales Rose 4.5% in 2014 – The total amount at factory level for 2014 was $707 billion, and it was driven by a 24% growth in cellphones and tablets. CE business is ecpected to grow to $733 billion by 2018. The TV segment will continue to grow, and emerging markets accounted for more than half of CE spending. Home automation will also be a key driver of growth in 2015.
The Sony Cave-In on “The Interview” – While some of us may feel this bizarre situation was as serious as if the U.S. suddenly paid all hostage holders the money they ask for, John Rice of the Komedia Group blogged a different way to see this: “Anything – I’ll say that again, anything — that has even the slightest impact on a consumer engaging in a transaction for entertainment purposes impacts what we are about.” The movie wasn’t getting very good advance reviews anyway.
Amazon Begins One-Hour Manhattan Deliveries – The No. 1 e-tailer will now provide one-to-two-hour deliveries of over 25,000 items to Prime-tier customers in Manhattan, for $7.99. Delivery is made by bicycle, and the service will be expanded to additional cities next year.
OTT Market Expands – Over-The-Top streaming (Internet delivery of material without subscriptions or a TV cable contract) now offers a huge number of options and capabilities. The HBO Go OTT streaming app is now available on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, giving Prime subscribers access to HBO movies and original TV programs. Users can make per-program purchases, not just subscribers who already pay for HBO on a cable or satellite TV service. Roku and Comcast have cut a deal to make HBO Go available to Comcast subscribers with Roku media players. Walmart now gaves customers who make a $4.99 credit purchase to Walmart online access to their digital movie service Vudo, which can be accessed on nearly every connected device. Vudo now has Disney’s digital movie service. Roku now produces the Roku Recommends channel, which looks at the latest streaming movies and TV shows.
Vinyl Reissue Schedule from Rush – Last April the band’s debut album was reissued on vinyl and over the course of 2015 the band’s other 13 albums will come out in chronological order, with Fly By Night, their second album, on January 27. Each remastered vinyl comes with a download code to obtain hi-res digital audio editions in either 96/24 or 192/24 form. Their upcoming July release, Moving Pictures, was one of the first discs to receive the RIAA’s first multi-platinum designation, and scored four million sales to date in the U.S.


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The third generation Toyota Prius is now available.
Although early reports once indicated that the new hybrid drive would offer lithium-ion batteries,("We will change the battery from nickel hydride to the lithium battery," CEO Katsuaki Watanabe told Business Week last year.) the 2010 Prius continues to use a NiMH battery pack.
However, the new NiMH battery pack has been improved (eventually, however, the 3rd gen Prius could utilize a lithium battery pack).
Likewise, the standard 2010 Toyota Prius is not yet a plug-in hybrid, although Toyota will begin production on a plug-in version of the Prius by 2012. Unfortunately, details are limited on the plug-in version as Toyota hammers out the final details of its plug-in plans/>
The 2010 Toyota Prius, aka, third gen Prius, uses an almost completely redevoloped hybrid drive.
Likewise, while the second generation Prius used a 1.5 liter Atkinson cycle engine, the new Prius uses a 1.8L DOHC 16-Valve VVT-i 1.8L Atkinson cycle engine that provides quicker performance and greater fuel economy, especially on the highway.
2010 Toyota Prius - interior design, detailing and features
The battery pack in the 2010 Prius is relatively the same in terms of voltage, but the new battery back has been reduced in size and repositioned, while increasing efficieny. Thanks to this reduction, cabin room and cargo space have been increased. (The battery is warranted at 10 years/150,000 miles.)
2010 Toyota Prius: Audio System
The new Prius adds an additional driving mode, rather than just normal and eco.
EV Mode helps the 2010 Prius stay in electric mode for about a mile at speeds less than 25 mph. ECO and Power modes are pretty obvious, but it is worth noting that ECO mode is great for those whom drive in snow and ice.
Driving Madame GPS
In terms of Packaging, the new Prius offers a number of new features and options, such as an Advanced Technology Package that includes a Pre-collision system, Lane Keep Assist, and Intelligent Parking Assist, as well as and a Solar Roof Package.
2010 Toyota Prius: Fuel Filler Door & Gas Cap
The Solar Roof Package does not charge the battery to extend the fuel efficiency of the Prius, rather the solar roof is used for ventilation and air conditioning.
2010 Toyota Prius-III Interior features and controls
So, the new Prius offers a bit more room, especially in the cabin and cargo areas, while also offering better performance and fuel economy. Additionally, the Prius will offer a host of new features for technology fans.
2010 Prius waiting lists?
Toyota planned a 60 percent increase in Prius production for 2009, but the production increase has been hampered by battery shortages.
So, supplies of the new third generation Prius have been an issue at some dealerships. Fortunately, markups do not appear to be common at this time.
Toyota has claimed that the future could hold multiple derivatives of the Prius, and a larger Prius - in addition to the smaller Prius. Both a smaller Prius and a larger Prius have made auto show appearances.
So Prius derivatives built upon the third generation, 2010 Prius are expected in the near future.

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The Maryland House has voted for a measure that would create a legal framework to enable recreational marijuana to be sold in stores as soon as July 1.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland House voted Friday for a measure that would create a legal framework and tax structure to enable recreational marijuana to be sold in stores as soon as July 1.
The House voted 103-32 for the bill, sending it to the Senate, which is moving forward with a separate measure.
Although Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment in November to legalize recreational marijuana, lawmakers left details about implementation to be decided this session.
“You might not have agreed with marijuana or the vote that our citizens took, but they took it, so it’s now our obligation to create an adult-use program,” said Del. C.T. Wilson, the chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. “And it’s our duty to ensure that Marylanders can receive the benefit of ownership in this industry, that citizens can have access to safe and effective cannabis without fear of adverse health effects or violence.”
Under the constitutional amendment, which received 67% of the vote, adults ages 21 and older will be able to legally posses up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis on July 1. A household will also be allowed to grow up to two marijuana plants.
The measure that passed Friday would enable existing medical cannabis dispensaries to have dual licenses to sell recreational marijuana.
Lawmakers also focused on including an equity component to allow new licenses to grow, process or dispense cannabis. Priority will be given to minority owners in communities that have been disproportionately negatively affected by past marijuana laws.
“We’ve compiled the best legal cannabis practices from other states, learned lessons from medical cannabis and created an equitable implementation framework,” House Speaker Adrienne Jones wrote in a tweet.
Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson told journalists Friday that the two chambers might need a conference committee to work out differences in legislation they passed, but that “we want to get this moving.”
“There’s a lot of pieces to this, and I think there’s no such thing as perfect in legislation,” Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said. “It’s doing the best you can to mitigate any of the potential unintended consequences that we can imagine today, so I feel very confident that we’re going to get it done this year.”
Before Maryland and Missouri voters decided to legalize marijuana in November, 19 other states, along with the District of Columbia, had fully legalized the drug. Also in November, three other states — Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota — rejected marijuana legalization ballot measures.
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Read more here: Source link


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Charleston’s wildly popular Restaurant Week will take place later this month, with 12 participating restaurants seating diners for a three-course meal at a pre-announced, set price from Monday, Jan. 24 through Saturday, Jan. 29, organizers confirmed Thursday evening.
“I’m really happy that we got enough interest and enough willing participants that we’re gonna pull it off,” said Dickinson Gould, president of Buzz Food Service, the wholesale distributor that has organized the annual event since its beginning in 2014.
The decision, he said, came down to the wire with some big names opting out and several new names opting in.
“COVID is still raging locally and restaurants are having both supply issues and staffing issues, so we surveyed past participants and the overwhelming majority said, ‘Yeah we’re in favor of it. We should do this. This will be good.’”
There are three first timers this year: 1010 Bridge, Barkadas at the Fort and Jeff’s Curbside.
Notably absent are two fine dining establishments: Laury’s Restaurant and The Chop House.
“Laury’s traditionally, every season, fills up their entire dining room for the entire week. I think people around town get excited about the chance for that real fine dining experience. And the last couple of years we’ve had Chop House,” Gould said. “But there’s still some very nice restaurants in the mix and I don’t think people will be too disappointed.”
Restaurants will set their own prices this year with an eye toward menu offerings and a dollar point that diners will see as a good value that still allows the businesses to turn a profit, he said.
“This is not worth doing if restaurants can’t generate some profit. That’s always been our biggest motivation in this is helping restaurants at an otherwise slow time of year.”
But with limited seating and fewer participating restaurants this year, a recurring source of angst is likely to be exacerbated, he added. So he had a word of advice: get your reservations in early.
“Some people have been frustrated in the past by saying, ‘By the time I saw the menu I called the restaurant and the reservations were already gone.’ Well this year I would say having a reservation is critically important” Gould said.
For those who aren’t comfortable venturing out – or can’t get a reservation at their preferred site – he said every restaurant will be “well-armed with plenty of to-go containers and ready to do carry-out service.”


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Who's getting slimed now?
It seems that responsible news reporting is becoming a thing of the past. You expect to see bias news junk on the web in various blogs, but the large national news organizations like NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and FOX news have a responsibility to get the story right, simply because they consider themselves “Professional.” There was nothing professional about the way ABC went after Beef Products Incorporated (BPI) several months ago, and now they are finding themselves playing defense because of their loose reporting.
Last week, BPI filed suit against ABC in Circuit Court in Union County, SD, claiming that ABC conducted a month-long smear campaign against BPI’s main product, Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB). BPI was forced to close three of their four plants and reduce operating capacity by 60 percent to 80 percent in their South Dakota plant.
When you’re producing a food product that has been blessed by USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, one might feel that they are operating under a safe environment. But I suppose everything is fair game as far as the news media is concerned. Perhaps the news media has been following politics too long and hearing all the lies, and starting to believe them. We know they have a selective hearing problem. There used to be a department in news rooms, to protect them from libel suits, called fact checking. I suppose ABC let their fact checkers go during these hard times.
BPI is looking to recover damages for defamation, product and food disparagement, and tortious interference with business relationships; they are suing for $1.2 billion in damages, plus punitive damages.
Their attorney Dan Webb said that, “Through nearly 200 false, misleading and defamatory statements, repeated constantly during a month long disinformation campaign, ABC and other individuals knowingly misled consumers into believing that LFTB was not beef and not safe for public consumption, which is completely false.” Of course ABC denied the claims and said the suit is without merit and they plan to “contest it vigorously.”
Named in the suit are ABC anchorwoman Diane Sawyer, senior national correspondent Jim Avila, ABC news correspondent Gerald Zirnstein, former USDA employee, who claims to have coined the term “pink slime,” Carl Custer, and Kit Foshee, a former BPI employee. They should probably throw in food channel chef Jamie Oliver in the suit for good measure.
BPI had gone to great extent to provide ABC with information about their product and went out of their way to get them the facts. Webb said, “ABC coverage of LFTB and BPI was a disinformation campaign unparalleled in duration and scope.” His legal team’s research found 11 live broadcasts, 14 online reports and a number of social media platforms that contained false and misleading statements about BPI and LFTB.
He also said that responses posted to ABC news’ website are proof of how the news organization’s alleged reporting of false information impacted public opinion. “Consumers by the hundreds notified ABC that they believed the false statements made by ABC. Consumers are convinced that my client is manufacturing a product that is some kind of “pink slime” product that is not beef and that it’s unsafe for human consumption, all of which is false.” In addition to defamation and product disparagement, BPI claims that ABC committed tortious interference by “blacklisting” companies that sold ground beef that contained LFTB.
It seems that most food disparagement cases are difficult. When Washington apple growers were faced with poor science that Alar was carcinogenic and apple sales fell through the floor, they sued. But they had no hard proof to support their case. I don’t think BPI will have as much of a problem since all of the media coverage is well documented and ABC interfered with their customer relationships.
It will be some time before LFTB regains its market share and Eldon Roth, owner of BPI, certainly has a right to defend his product and company that was shamelessly taken down to a fraction of its original business. Legislators are calling for laws to label products with LFTB and I wonder how they will do it. This product contains 100 percent beef with 100 percent beef added. I hope BPI is successful and we can send the word to journalists that while they have free speech, they do have to make an attempt to be factual. — PETE CROW


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iPhone users, stand ready, because it appears that the OS 3.0 upgrade should be arriving between 5pm and 7pm today (UK time).
Following up reports that it was delayed until tomorrow, Twitter user @richardlai checked out different Apple sites around the world and discovered that Apple Singapore was reporting 18 June, while Apple India was reporting 17 June.
A bit of timezone jiggery-pokery gives us the times above, which translates to 4pm to 6pm in the rest of Western Europe, and somewhere between midday and 2pm on the East Coast of the United States.
Make sure your iPhone's plugged in and ready to sync between those times, if you want to be the first to get the update.
Update: Some sites are reporting the update could arrive sooner, with MacFormat claiming 3pm. We'll find out shortly, we suppose!
Update II: 3pm comes and goes with no upgrade. We're putting our money on 6pm GMT, as Hong Kong's iPhone users claim to have received a text saying that it'll be arriving at that time.
Update III: Thanks to commenter Jason for pointing out that the update seems to be available in Australia. See the link below for more details.
Update IV: The Apple iPhone 3.0 software update is now live in the UK, see link below.


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Bengaluru and California-based product discovery platform Unbxd raised $12.5 million in a Series C funding round. This round was led by Eight Roads Ventures with participation from Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. Existing partners IDG Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners, and Nirvana Ventures also participated in this round with Avendus Capital as the exclusive financial adviser.
Unbxd is a data analytics based solution for e-retailers to cash in on more product sales through search, merchandizing, and recommendations on their websites. It has successfully helped a multitude of e-retailers across the world and is a global service provider that originiating in Bengaluru, India.
Unbxd, founded in 2011 by Pavan Sondur and Prashant Kumar, focuses on search and discovery of products on e-commerce platforms. They connect shoppers to the products they are most likely to buy by applying artificial intelligence and advanced data sciences.
The founders plan to use this investment in its artificial intelligence powered platform. This platform allows online retailers to capture revenue that is lost due to poor product discovery which amounts to almost 15%-40%. They also plan on opening new offices in Chicago and New York that are closer to its customers.
The founders were able to raise seed funding in 2012 followed by a $2 million Series A funding round in 2013 and an undisclosed amount of Series B funding round in 2016. Speaking about the Series C funding round Managing Partner of Eight Roads Venture Raj Dugar said that this was the right time to accelerate its go to market strategy because of its great product and market fit.
Their artificial intelligence tracks online shoppers in real time to understand user intent and enhance their online shopping experiences. In a statement, the company claims that their revenue increased by 400% since last year and have added leading retailers like Ashley HomeStore and FreshDirect to their consumer base.
Measurable results through its technical implementations and has been headed towards massive expansion ever since it was founded due to an innovative, efficient and robust solution for e-retailers that increases their business. If any company can deliver this level of user personalization on site through data analytics and increase
revenue measurably, it is bound to be successful.


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Chinese Startup Develops Its Own Virtual Reality Headset Dubbed ANTVR KIT.
The Oculus Rift may have become one of the better known devices among those who dream for a virtual reality world, but its definitely not the only machine around with its kind of caliber.
A Chinese startup company has launched its very own brand through the use of a Kickstarter campaign for their virtual reality device that been dubbed the ” All-in-One Universal Virtual Reality Kit” or ANTVR KIT for a much shorter pronunciation.
Based in Beijing, the company, ANTVR, has boasted that its product, which contains a wireless headset and controller, gives its user the opportunity to completely immerse themselves in a larger-than-life version of their favorite entertainment.
It can be utilized in conjunction with a variety of movies and games, including those available for consoles such as the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
“Anything that can put out an HDMI signal can be picked up by the headset,” said Qin Zheng, the project’s founder.
“The [ANTVR KIT] is equipped with a full [high-definition] display,” can be found on the description for the product. The sharp picture is projected onto the wearers retina through the aspherical lens without distorting the image, allowing every pixel to remain in sharp focus.
While the helmet is on, The user will be surrounded by the largest 4:3 standard screen available in this world, which gives the user a 100 degree diagonal field of vision. This gives the wearer and IMAX-like quality experience in the comfort of their own homes.
Unlike that of the Oculus Rift headset, which utilizes a spherical lens in which causes a distortion along the edge of the wearer’s vision, the ANTVR Kit has been developed with an aspherical lens, which means that in theory, the product is also capable of producing a much superior virtual reality image that is covered easily around the user.
Qin has stated that his inspirations in finding the company and the creation for the ANTVR Kit stems from his huge love for science fictions.
After appearing as of recently on Kickstarter, the ANTVR KIT has managed to gained over a total of US$155,755 in funding from various individuals who are interested in the product.
Virtual reality headwear has increasingly become popular during the past couple of years, in particularly as the crazed fans of the video game have continued to find new ways to complete the total immersion providing from the media. The Oculus Rift, which also began as a Kickstarter project itself, manage to raise over a total of US$2 million during the year 2012. The finalized version for consumers of this product has been dated for release during the late 2014.


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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif., April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- T3 Sixty, a real estate management consulting and analytics firm, has released the definitive list of the nation's largest real estate companies and franchise brands in its 2021 Enterprise 20 report as part of its annual Real Estate Almanac publication. The report analyzes and ranks real estate's largest enterprise companies and franchise brands by 2020 calendar year sales volume, transaction sides and agent count, and shows that the nation's 20 largest real estate companies grew sales volume market share by 4.0 percent in 2020 from the previous year.
The market share growth, accounted against NAR's annual existing home sales statistics, shows that the 20 largest real estate brokerage enterprises (which account for companies' full stats – franchise brand and company-owned brokerage) did a total of $2.1 trillion in sales volume in 2020. This represents an accelerated concentration from the top 20 sales volume market share growth from 2018-2019 of 2.7 percent.
The top 20 real estate enterprises accounted for 54.9 percent of existing home sales volume in 2020, revealing just how much production is concentrating among the nation's biggest and most powerful real estate organizations.
The Enterprise 20 analyzes companies by the sales volume and transaction sides of both their company-owned brokerages and the franchise brands they may own as an "enterprise." This gives a full, clearer picture of just who the biggest of the big are, the scale of their industry dominance and the degree to which it's increasing. Access the full 2021 Enterprise rankings here, which includes access to enterprise rankings by 2020 sales volume, transaction sides and agent count.
Just the five largest real estate enterprises by annual sales volume in 2020 – Realogy Holdings Corp., Keller Williams Realty, RE/MAX, HomeServices of America and Compass – accounted for 42.4 percent of total existing home sales volume in 2020.
Enterprises have differing structures. Realogy and HomeServices of America, for example, manage both company-owned brokerage operations as well as franchise brands; others such as Keller Williams Realty and RE/MAX operate just as a franchisor, and others such as Compass just have company-owned brokerage operations.
"Real estate is the largest industry in the United States, measured by GDP, and its dominant players are becoming larger and larger," said Stefan Swanepoel, T3 Sixty chairman and CEO.
Among the nation's top 20 franchise brands by sales volume, Keller Williams Realty retains its No. 1 rank with $387.6 billion in annual sales by companies that operate under its brand, followed by RE/MAX with $294.2 billion, Coldwell Banker Real Estate with $265.4 billion, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices with $139.26 billion and Sotheby's International Realty with $135.1 billion. These top five brands also saw strong year-over-year sales volume increases, ranging from 8.8 to 32.1 percent, another example of how real estate thrived in a year that throttled many other industries.
Access the full 2021 Enterprise 20 franchise brand rankings here, which includes rankings by 2020 sales volume, transaction sides and agent count.
About the 2021 Enterprise 20
The Enterprise 20, which analyzes the residential real estate industry's largest enterprises and franchise brands, is the fourth section of the Real Estate Almanac, a comprehensive annual compendium on the residential real estate brokerage industry. The Almanac includes a ranking of real estate's most powerful leaders (SP 200), a list of its largest MLSs and Realtor associations (ORE 200), a list of the largest technology companies (Tech 500), a list of the nation's largest holding companies, franchise brands and public companies (Enterprise 20), and a list of the nation's 1,000 largest brokerages (Mega 1000). For more, visit realestatealmanac.com.
About T3 Sixty
T3 Sixty is a trusted advisor and management consultancy in the residential real estate brokerage industry. T3 Sixty also provides extensive data services and research to affect intelligent change and growth. For more, visit t360.com.
Chris Reilly, T3 Sixty, LLC., 9493972108, [email protected]
SOURCE T3 Sixty, LLC.


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Some of the nations largest retailers pay Paul Walsh to think about existential-sounding questions like “How cold is cold?” and “How wet is wet?”
No, Walsh isnt a philosopher. Indeed, as a trained scientist (a meteorologist, to be precise), his answers are anything but theoretical. But it certainly is about perception.
The temperature where people start feeling cold—and start acting cold—varies sharply across the United States and certainly globally. And yet until recently, retailers made buying decisions based on fixed—and usually incorrect—assumptions about how consumers react to weather.
“If you live in Seattle—where it rains an awful lot—your behavior on a rainy day is very different than if you lived in sunny L.A.,” said Walsh, the senior vice president for client services at Planalytics, in Wayne, Pa.
Another Walsh example is how Americans react to three inches of snow. In some neutral parts of the country, schools are closed and traffic is delayed. In Buffalo, N.Y., thats considered flurries and no one notices. “You get three inches in Atlanta, and thats Armageddon,” he said.
Many huge global retailers—including Bloomingdales, 7-Eleven, Kmart, JCPenney, PetSmart and The Home Depot—pay Walshs company to analyze weather patterns and customer buying patterns and predict likely buying patterns.
“More and more companies are looking at this information very carefully, trying to get an understanding why their customers do what they do,” Walsh said. “What is the weather in Buffalo, and how warm does it have to get before people start buying shorts versus how cold does it have to get in Orlando before people start buying sweatshirts? Theres no voodoo about this. Its pure statistics.”
Planalytics clients run the gamut, from retailers worried about seasonal clothing to convenience stores that have to know what cold/hot weather items to keep on hand to companies that fill ATMs with cash, who need to project the absolute minimal amount of money they need to keep the machines happy.
Not only do retailers have to understand that 45 degrees Fahrenheit is viewed as quite warm in New Hampshire in February and brutally cold anytime in Los Angeles, but they also have to reject historical retail data when projecting likely sales demand.
“The problem that were solving is that, by and large, retailers use last years sales to predict this years season,” Walsh said. “When you forecast using last years sales, that only works if you believe that this years weather will be exactly the same as last year.”
These projections go beyond the obvious. In weather perceived as bitter cold, consumers avoid large shopping malls. But those who do make it are committed and are extremely likely to make purchases. When the weather is perceived as nice and comfortable, a lot more consumers go to the mall, but they are more likely to be tire-kickers and browsers, Walsh said. Few people feel like browsing during a blizzard.
Walshs company typically delivers a seven-day immediate weather and buying pattern prediction report for each client, focusing on appropriate geographies. But they also deliver an 11-month prediction, which Walsh says is accurate about 75 percent of the time. The reports are delivered on the Web and are usually dumped right into Excel spreadsheets.
A key foundation of Planalytics value-add is the argument that actual weather motivates consumer buying habits a lot less than weather predictions broadcast on TV and radio. Therefore, Walshs meteorologists are certainly concerned with accurately predicting the weather, but they are even more concerned with accurately predicting the TV predictors.
“Weather forecasters drive demand more than actual weather does,” Walsh said.
Given the fact that TV forecasters generally rely on professional weather agencies such as the National Weather Bureau or AccuWeather, how is Planalytics able to predict accurately and earlier? Walshs answer is that his team cant predict earlier or more accurately, but his team is willing to reveal those predictions (to paying clients) a lot earlier.
When hurricane patterns start to emerge, just about all professional meteorologists can spot them at about the same time.
“Our team and the major weather services are looking at the same things, but they wont come out and start talking publicly until theyre really comfortable with the prediction, until they can pretty much see the whites of its eyes,” which typically happens about 72 hours before the hurricane will land, Walsh said.
“From a retail clients perspective, the best storm is the one that threatens, but doesnt hit. They get the surge of business, but not the destruction,” he said.
But even a hurricanes prediction impacts different clients differently, and that has to come through in Planalytics analysis reports. “When hurricane reports come out, people are standing in line, waiting to buy things,” Walsh said. “But theyre not thinking about buying designer fleece. Theyre looking at plywood.”
For 7-Eleven, Planalytics analyzes buying patterns and makes some unusual suggestions. When a hurricane is predicted, it recommends stocking up on magazines and other entertainment items.
Why? Parents fearing evacuations want to be able to quickly keep children occupied and happy during a potentially long and very tense evacuation. “We know what people do when a hurricane threatens,” Walsh said.
Retail Center Editor Evan Schuman can be reached at Evan_Schuman@ziffdavis.com.


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Former Dixon Comptroller’s Personal Items Up for Auction
The U.S. Marshals are helping to recover the money stolen by Rita Crundwell, Dixon's former Comptroller, by auctioning of personal items of hers this month.
ABC7 Chicago reports that "hundreds of items belonging to Ms. Crundwell will be auctioned off.
As you may remember, Crundwell was convicted of stealing $53.7 million dollars of the city of Dixon's money to be used for her own personal gain. In 2012 she was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison. She is currently institutionalized at Waseca Federal Correctional Institute in Minnesota.
"To date, U.S. Marshals auctions have yielded more than $9.5 million to the city of Dixon." Wow! That is a small dent in the huge deficit she caused to the town.
The auction will be online through the site www.txauction.com and will run Oct. 20 through Nov. 3rd.
Items to be auctioned include: "horse show clothing and accessories, but also things such as a football and framed T-shirt signed by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, Harley Davidson apparel, various pairs of cowboy boots, Sean Ryan western hats, an ATV and mopeds. There is also a Childeric English saddle with a water buffalo seat, which sells new for more than $4,000."
If you're feeling alittle nosy go ahead and take a look all those things p for grabs.
Heck! You know Christmas is around the corner. You just might get some good deals on some stuff. Plus, you're going to be helping the city of Dixon at the same time.
I honestly, do not feel bad with this auction taking place. Now maybe Ms. Crundwell will really understand how it feels like to be robbed and stolen blind. Just my opinion, but I cannot stand people we entrust to places of authority and they abuse it.
As the saying says what goes around comes around and you for, Rita Crundwell, it has. and how.


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The strong stock market in 2020 has been one of the biggest surprises in a year full of them, and we've heard the explanations, from massive Federal Reserve interventions to bored sports bettors discovering stock trading.
But the reality is the businesses of big companies have held up pretty well in what has been described as the worst economy since the 1930s.
Part of the explanation for how public companies are doing OK is simply that they tend to be bigger. It's so costly to be publicly held in 2020 that the small public company looks increasingly like an endangered species.
The Wilshire 5000 stock index, meant to capture all the American public companies with easily found trading data, once had more than 7,500 names in it but hasn't had even 5,000 for 15 years.
Even as COVID-19 first disrupted business this spring, there was talk about how big companies were in better position to get through the downturn than small businesses were.
Big companies had the capital to invest in technology that made work from home easier and enabled new ways to distribute their products, including direct to the customer. They had more management bandwidth to solve problems like keeping staff safe in the facilities.
UnitedHealth Group of Minnetonka, the biggest player in America's health insurance industry, is having a growth year, and its stock has traded pretty much in line with broader market averages like the S&P 500. Retailers Target and Best Buy Co. are both expected to have growth years, at least according to the fiscal-year revenue estimates of securities analysts.
St. Paul-based Ecolab is among the big companies that did feel financial pain as the pandemic spread, given that a lot of its sales comes from providing cleaning products and services to hotel operators and restaurants, businesses badly hurt by the pandemic. Ecolab took a $38 million hit in its second quarter just from voluntarily suspending the collection of lease payments on dishwashing equipment used by its customers.
Yet Ecolab stock is up for the year. In a year with a terrible infectious disease, investors apparently want to bet on the future of a Fortune 500 company in the business of helping customers clean and sanitize.
3M Co. of Maplewood is one of those bellwethers the analysts will talk about on TV, an industrial company with products in so many markets that it's a proxy for the overall health of the global industrial economy. And as of last check, its sales were expected to be down just slightly for the year.
It also looked like it was going to be a challenging year for C.H. Robinson Worldwide, based in Eden Prairie, a giant in the market of providing third-party logistics services, as the pandemic seemed likely to break long supply chains.
It remains to be seen how much of a blow the pandemic has delivered to globalization. But as of the last forecast, C.H. Robinson's annual revenue is expected to come in this year pretty much in line with what it reported last year. The company's stock has outperformed the broader market this year.
One conclusion is that the goods-producing economy (after plenty of interruptions) has done OK this year. What has really suffered, and continues to suffer, is the services economy, particularly businesses that have people delivering service personally to another person.
These are full-service bars and restaurants, beauty salons, fitness centers and high-service retail. And businesses in that broad area of the economy generally are not traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
It's easy to see what has been happening to the services economy in the state employment numbers. More than one in four workers in the leisure and hospitality segment were out of a job as of August.
And a lot of those are workers who had been employed at small businesses.
As of mid-September, small-business revenue in the state had begun to perk up a bit, according to the new data tracker published by the economists at Opportunity Insights, although it was still down by more than 13% since the start of the year. But leisure and hospitality small-business revenue in Minnesota was still off more than 40%.
Sales down just 40% would be fine for many members of the Metro Independent Business Alliance, said Executive Director Mike Brown, as he has consistently heard reports of sales this summer with Twin Cities restaurants well below half of normal. And, of course, that's with the benefit of summer outdoor dining on patios, sidewalks and parking lots.
"These business owners need time and they need money," said Brown. "And they have neither."
Of course, this is not just a regional problem. More than 160,000 businesses on the consumer reviews and reservation system Yelp have closed since March 1, nearly 100,000 of them shutting for good.
There are enough public companies in the services sector to use their performance for a sense of how painful it must be for the small businesses in some of these highly fragmented markets. The publicly held fitness company Planet Fitness, for example, is expected to show a full-year revenue decline of 38%, according to analysts.
How is it going in the hair salon business? About what you would expect, based on the results of Regis Corp., headquartered here in the Twin Cities.
Systemwide revenue, meaning it includes sales of franchisees, declined nearly 75% in the quarter ended in June, Regis reported a month ago, as it lost money for the quarter. It's no surprise that the shares of Regis are off more than 66% for the year so far.
There are, of course, very big companies in the entertainment business, maybe none bigger than the Walt Disney Co., and its stock is only off about 14% this year.
Yet this week Disney finally yielded to the inevitable and announced the layoff of 28,000 full- and part-time workers at its theme parks in Florida and California.


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The UK’s financial sector is looking very healthy at the moment with increased growth, profits and recruitment.
According to the latest CBI/PwC survey, there are good reasons to be confident about the future of the country’s financial sector. During the period of the three months to September, it saw its fastest levels of growth since 2007.
This is expected to continue into the next quarter with the increasing volumes also bringing larger profits for financial firms. This is compared to a contraction in the previous quarter.
The rise in profits occurred despite an increase in costs in the sector and that too is expected to continue into the next quarter.
There are some concerns about the future though. Costs are expected to increase, while there are worries about the negative effect of statutory legislation and regulation.
The CBI Director for Economics, Rain Newton-Smith said: “The UK’s financial services sector is enjoying its strongest run of growth since 2007, with activity rising across all categories of customer and profitability bouncing back.
“The spike in costs was off-set by a steep fall in the value of non-performing loans, suggesting that much of the fall-out from the financial crisis is now working its way out of the system.
“With competition one of the top concerns for the coming year, the sector could be moving to a new phase in the recovery where firms are feeling more assured about the level of demand, and are now shifting their gaze to competing for new customers and business. This is reflected in their expectation that sales to new customers will be the main driver of growth in the coming quarter.”
Image by Joan Campderrós-i-Canas


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SEASIDE - Roehm Furniture Company will shut its doors for good Thursday after 62 years of business in Seaside.
Bob Baker, who has been the owner since 1990, said the store has been at its current location, 810 Broadway Drive, since 1965. Baker is selling the business in order to live full-time with his family in Dallas, Texas.
"It's been difficult to run the business for nine years from such a distance," he said. "As good as my employees have been, an owner really needs to be there for a sense of the day-to-day operations. And when I'm here, I'm missing
my kid's plays and baseball games."
Bob BakerBaker is offering all remaining merchandise and furniture at 60 to 80 percent off original prices and customers may name their own price. No reasonable offer will be refused, although Baker hopes to sell pieces at least at cost.
Baker, who has worked in the Seaside
furniture business since 1978, has seen a many furniture trends come and go. One of the most amusing trends, he said, was the late 1970s faux fur fabric craze. Manufacturers covered large modular units called conversation or "love" pits with the fabric. Colors have changed as well. The 70s featured bright greens, golds and browns and have transitioned over the years from earth tones to the blues and pinks popular in the 90s. Now colors have switched back to earth tones in brown, green and gray.
But some of the biggest changes have come in Seaside itself.
"When I started here, Seaside was kind of run down," he said. "There were a lot of smoky taverns. But the city has really cleaned up its act and there's been really good leadership. The new lights, the new sidewalks are an indication that the city is rolling out the welcome mat to its visitors."
Roehm Furniture Company was established in April 1941, when Charles Roehm bought the furniture business from Louie J. Klink. According to Polk's Clatsop County Directory Records located at the Seaside Museum, Klink had operated a furniture business in Seaside as early as 1920, originally with carpenter Solomon Diebel. The business was then located at 735 Broadway Drive, the current location of the Seaside Moose Lodge.
When Baker bought the business in 1990, he decided to keep the Roehm name after speaking with long-time customers who told him stories like "well, my grandpa bought a mattress from Roehm's back in the 40s." Keeping the name maintained business recognition and nostalgia.
Baker said one of the things he'll miss most about working in Seaside is his loyal customers. He's gotten to know many on a first-name basis and has enjoyed fishing and clamming adventures. He's also been involved in the Seaside Rotary and other civic activities.


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Stepan Co. (SCL) Sets New 52-Week High at $66.79
Stepan Co. (NYSE:SCL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $66.79 and last traded at $66.65, with a volume of 27,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.71.
SCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 8th. Seaport Global Securities lowered shares of Stepan from an “accumulate” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.
The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.43 and a 200-day moving average of $55.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion and a PE ratio of 16.34.
Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 20th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.14. The business earned $454.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Stepan Co. will post $4.31 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 31st will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 29th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%.
In other news, CEO F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.46, for a total transaction of $2,030,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,978,894.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Frank Pacholec sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.19, for a total value of $114,082.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 56,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,682,517.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Other hedge funds and institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matarin Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Stepan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,567,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 126,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,263,000 after buying an additional 5,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 875.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 53,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,681,000 after buying an additional 48,440 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. now owns 78,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,894,000 after buying an additional 31,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter.
Stepan Company produces specialty and intermediate chemicals, which are sold to other manufacturers and used in a variety of end products. The Company has three segments: Surfactants, Polymers and Specialty Products. The Company’s Surfactants segment offers products, which are principal ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning products, such as detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, floors and walls, as well as shampoos and body washes.
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Sales for the second quarter ended June 28, 2020 at Gildan Activewear of 229.7 million dollars declined 71.3 percent compared to last year, primarily driven demand downturn in the quarter, the impact of significant distributor inventory destocking in imprintables, unfavourable product-mix, and higher promotional discounting in imprintables. The company reported a gross loss of 148.5 million dollars or 122.5 million dollars on an adjusted basis. On an adjusted basis, the operating loss for the quarter was 181.1 million dollars. Gildan also reported a net loss of 249.7 million dollars or 1.26 dollars per share on a diluted basis and an adjusted net loss of 196.6 million dollars or 99 cents per share on a diluted basis.
“Not surprisingly, our sales in the quarter were down 71 percent compared to last year and we incurred substantial COVID-related costs and charges,” said Glenn J. Chamandy, President and CEO of Gildan Activewear, adding, “While results for the second quarter were significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, we were encouraged by certain signs of recovery, particularly as point of sales (POS) trends during the quarter performed better than we expected across all channels. In the retail channel, while sales were down overall, certain categories held up better during the quarter.”
Gildan reports decline in sales across product categories
Activewear sales in the second quarter totalled 131.6 million dollars, down 80.2 percent primarily due to lower sales volumes of imprintables which were down 75 percent in North America and approximately 55 percent internationally. Activewear sales volumes in retail were also down due to the widespread closure of retail stores, most notably impacting our business with department stores, national chains, sports specialty retailers and global lifestyle brand customers, partly offset by better sell-through in the craft, mass and online channels.
Sales in the hosiery and underwear category of 98.1 million dollars were down 27.9 percent in the quarter compared to last year, also due to retail store closures. The company’s sales performance in underwear was strong in the quarter, up 23.5 percent over the prior year, reflecting double digit growth in private brand underwear and underwear products sold on-line.
Gildan’s sales for the first half period declines 51.7 percent
The company added that net sales for the six months ended June 28, 2020 of 688.8 million dollars were down 51.7 percent over the same period last year, reflecting declines of 56.5 percent in activewear sales and 30.7 percent in the hosiery and underwear category.
The company reported a gross loss for the first half of 41.9 million dollars and 7.9 million dollars on an adjusted basis due to the impact of the pandemic, while net loss for the first half was 349 million dollars or 1.76 dollars per share on a diluted basis, and an adjusted loss of 185.4 million dollars or 93 cents per share.


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Jaguar employee stole £2million of car parts from factory and sold them on the black market to fund trips around the world
- Simon Wensley forged signatures to order components from in-house
- Satisfied demand of small garages for parts at lower than industry prices
- Smuggled 5,000 items from Jaguar HQ which he sold to pay off mortgage
- Been jailed for five years for what judge described as 'staggering theft'
Simon Wensley paid off his mortgage and treated his family to a jet-set lifestyle with the profits he made selling the spares to local garages and fitters
A logistics co-ordinator at Jaguar Land Rover forged signatures on hundreds of order forms to steal millions of pounds worth of car parts from his company's HQ and punt them on at knock-down prices.
Simon Wensley paid off his mortgage and treated his family to a jet-set lifestyle with the profits he made selling the spares to local garages and fitters.
He'd smuggled them from the firm's base in Coventry, home to 4,000 workers, after submitting bogus orders to their manufacturing plant signed-off with forged signatures.
In the end, the 55-year-old had stolen 5,000 components before being caught out asking for engine parts that hadn't been made for years.
The nicked parts had a total value of £2.2million.
Judge Andrew Lockhart, in sentencing Wensley to five years imprisonment at Warwick Crown Court, said: You told people you could obtain high-quality parts at a fraction of the true cost.
'Your theft was unrelenting.
'Unscrupulous garages and fitters have needed someone like you, someone on the inside.'
He described the theft as 'staggering', adding that Wensley's methods were 'systematic, persistent and cynical.'
The court was told that he knew the demand was there from smaller, local garages to have valuable Jaguar parts available at lower prices - a hunger the father-of-three was happy to satisfy
Wensley started his scam within days of getting his job back at the plant after being made redundant.
The court was told that he knew the demand was there from smaller, local garages to have valuable Jaguar parts available at lower prices - a hunger the father-of-three was happy to satisfy.
Prosecutor Laura Hobson suggested that because Wensley had moulded a good reputation within the company, he was considered highly trustworthy and reliable.
For that reason, she said, he was in a position where he could take advantage - and did.
The jury found Wensley, of Coventry, guilty of both theft and tax fraud, and he was sentenced to five years in jail.
Wensley stole 5,000 components while working at the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Coventry. He was eventually caught out when he asked for engine parts that hadn't been made for years
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Scammed during the pandemic? You're not alone. Californians have lost $20M to fraud
Consumer fraud experts say the coronavirus pandemic is spawning new kinds of scams that take advantage of people when they're already down, from $9 water bottles to purported on-the-spot coronavirus antibody tests.
U.S. residents have lost about $149 million in coronavirus-related scams through late September, with around 210,000 reports coming into the Federal Trade Commission, according to agency data.
Nearly 18,900 — or roughly 9% — of those reports came from California, where the reported fraud loss is nearly $20 million as of Sept. 28.
Maricela Segura, director of the FTC’s Western Region Los Angeles office, said scammers adapt to fit the circumstances that people are in, like the rash of fraudulent foreclosure rescue schemes after the 2008 mortgage crisis.
"The fraudsters will follow the headlines," Segura said. "They just morph, and they just fit the situation."
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This year, thousands of people have encountered scams related to the pandemic, such as fraudsters posing as government officials who require personal financial information to process a stimulus check. Another recent scam involved someone posing as an approved lender for the federal Paycheck Protection Program to provide loans to small business owners.
Not only did the applicants get scammed, but they missed the deadline for the actual program, Segura said.
If you do get scammed, Segura added, you're not alone.
"Scammers are extremely clever at what they do," Segura said. "They know what people need. They know what to say, and they say it in just a convincing enough way."
What kind of COVID-19 scams are out there?
Some coronavirus-specific scams have pushed a cure for the virus, or rapid on-the-spot testing. Segura said consumers should be wary of anyone who is trying to sell them cures or therapies that they haven't heard about, as such information would be widespread in the news.
"You're not going to hear about a breakthrough cure for the first time in a sales pitch," Segura said.
In the Inland Empire, the most common scam this year involves people ordering items online and not receiving them. FTC data from the first two quarters of 2020 show 1,359 reports of online shopping and negative review scams in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area.
The figure includes reports of people ordering personal protective equipment, like masks, and not receiving the items. It also includes reports of business preventing people from giving honest reviews, or companies that are refusing to honor guarantees.
That's a big shift from last year when there were 723 such reports in the same timeframe and the top-reported scam in the area was related to imposter scams, which is when a fraudster pretends to be a friend or relative in need of money for an emergency, or pretends to be a government official who needs financial information.
Segura estimates that the uptick of online shopping scams might be linked to the prevalence of people ordering items online during the pandemic while brick-and-motor stores are closed. She's also seen text message scams that tell someone they have a package waiting, and the link ends up being a phishing scheme.
"It's very easy to fall for that," she said.
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Some scams simply aim to take advantage of consumers; Riverside County chief deputy district attorney Kelli Catlett said her mother spotted a $9 bottle of water the day after the state's shelter-in-place order in March.
“We realized price gouging was just alive and well just one day into the pandemic,” Catlett said.
Since then, the county has opened multiple price gouging investigations, she said. The California price gouging statute kicks in during a state of emergency and generally prohibits charging a price that is more than 10% what an item cost before the state (or local) declaration of emergency.
Her office is also seeing instances of coronavirus-related tests peddled in parking lots of medical facilities or grocery stores.
What other scams are out there?
Overall, figures related to fraud are slightly down in the Inland Empire for the first half of 2020 compared to last year. FTC figures show there were 13,774 reports of fraud and other scams in 2019, or around 296 instances for every 100,000 people.
In 2020, there were 12,607 reports through the first half of the year, or around 271 instances for every 100,000 people.
The second-most commonly reported frauds in the region this year were scams involving telephone and mobile services at 9.4% of reports, which refer to instances of advertising phony low-cost cell services, or other misleading phone services. Imposter scams constituted 9.2% of reports.
Scams involving internet services were 4.8% of reports, while scams involving prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries that lure people in with a fake award or prize were 3.6% of reports.
During a recent press conference on the topic of consumer fraud hosted by Ethnic Media Services, Monica Vaca, the FTC's associate director for the division of consumer response and operations, said job-related scams are also a troubling phenomenon.
Some scams involve mystery shopping gigs, or getting paid to have an advertisement on their personal vehicle. Others are targeted toward college students and look like emails coming from a college career office, Vaca said.
These types of scams often require the person to pay some money up front to get the process rolling, only to have their finances compromised.
“They end up broke. They end up with their bank account wiped out,” Vaca said.
Fraudsters take advantage of digital divide
Some scams can cost a family thousands.
Luz Gallegos, a community organizer who is the executive director of TODEC Legal Center, which has served immigrant communities in the Inland Empire for about 40 years, said such communities are plagued by scammers “who don’t have a conscious.”
TODEC developed a call center at the start of the pandemic to connect community resources, gather reports of scams, and bring education to people about scams. Gallegos said they've taken thousands of calls spanning a variety of issues.
She recounted the instance of a family who lost thousands after a loved one with COVID-19 passed away and a scam company took thousands of dollars from them to transport the body. “These realities are very real in our region,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos also reported “grassroots scams” distributed through flyers that might advertise low-cost internet service — a scam that can be particularly pernicious in a region that has a stark digital divide and lack of technological access for many families.
Such scams are increasing during COVID-19 pandemic as people are out trying to get more services and are looking for assistance, Gallegos said.
TODEC has also heard about landlords who threaten to call immigrant officials to shake down residents, Gallegos said. Other scams are stimulus check-related, saying that people who are undocumented could get $5,000 if they contributed to a particular campaign. "We have heard it all," she said.
While there are methods to report such scams, Gallegos said many people hesitate to approach government authorities amid anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric in the U.S.
"Of course we encourage them to speak up and to report these crimes, but as an organization, we cannot judge communities for being fearful," she said “These last years have been very difficult for this population."
Gallegos' organization may help people file complaints anonymously — and they warn people to remember: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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Nick Akers, a senior assistant attorney general in charge of the Consumer Law Section of the California Department of Justice, said his office doesn’t share complaint information with immigration officials. They can take tips anonymously or via a community organization.
What matters, Akers said, is that the reports are made so others can be warned.
“We just want to hear about what’s going on, and we’ve got tools we can use to investigate a company that’s engaged in misconduct based on those sorts of complaints as well,” Akers said.
Will you get your money back? Likely no
Despite the hundreds of thousands of reports of scams, few people who fall victim are likely to end up getting their money back. Fraud cases can be prosecuted by local, state or federal agencies, but in many cases the money is already gone, Segura said.
"Fraudsters are really good at doing one thing: spending the money," Segura said.
Monica Harsock, a private attorney in Riverside County who specializes in financial harms, said there are some scams for which there’s no legal recourse.
She recently had a client who lost $2,000 after touring a rental property for her and her two children that she found online. The client thought she was giving a security deposit, but the person who gave the tour didn’t own the home, Harsock said, and disappeared.
"There was nothing I could do for her," Harsock said.
Doing a Google search on anyone you’re working with can help suss out whether they're legitimate, Harsock said, as does asking for identification prior to turning over a check.
But Californians could soon have more options on how to fight back against some financial-based fraud under a newly created state agency.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed legislation to replace the existing Department of Business Oversight with the brand-new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The legislation creates something like a state version of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will provide more oversight over business activity that wasn’t previously regulated around debt settlement, rent-to-own contracts, sales finance, and consumer credit reporting.
The creation was applauded by Claudia Deeg, an associate with the California Public Interest Research Group.
“Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a significant increase in financial threats to consumers, from price gouging to scams to predatory lending,” Deeg said in a news release. “California has needed stronger consumer protections for years, and the DFPI’s creation comes at a truly crucial moment to provide it."
How can I avoid scams and fraud?
Here are some tips from the FTC on how to avoid fraud during the coronavirus pandemic:
- Ignore offers of vaccinations and home test kits.
- Avoid suspicious-looking links sent via text or email.
- Hang up on robocalls.
- Be wary of emails that claim to come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or World Health Organisation, and head to their websites instead to find information firsthand.
- Spot the difference between a real contact tracer and a scammer; a legitimate tracer may ask for your name, address, health information, and where you’ve visited. Anyone who says you need to pay is a scammer, as well as anyone who asks for social security information or immigration status
- Research where you’re making charitable donations using organizations GuideStar and CharityWatch.
Where can I get help?
If you think you've been the victim of a scam or fraud, here are places to go for help:
- TODEC Legal Center: For questions or concerns with a scam involving immigrant communities, head to www.todec.org or call 1-888-863-3291.
- Inland Counties Legal Services Inc.: For help in San Bernardino or Riverside counties, head to www.InlandLegal.org or call 888-245-4257.
- California Department of Justice : Consumers can file complaints with the California Attorney General's Office by going to www.oag.ca.gov/report or calling (800) 952-5225.
- Federal Trade Commission: Head to www.ftc.gov/complaint to file a complaint with the FTC, or call toll-free, (877) FTC-HELP (877 382-4357) or TTY at (866) 653-4261.
Melissa Daniels covers economic development, hospitality, and local business in the Coachella Valley. She can be reached at (760)-567-8458, email@example.com, or on Twitter @melissamdaniels.


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One of the key features of a hybrid or electric vehicle is the presence of regenerative braking. This allows these cars to recover some of the energy that would otherwise be lost in the form of heat when the brake pads are engaged.
In a regenerative braking system, every press of the brakes engages the vehicle's electric motor, only in reverse. This causes the car to slow down while the turning of the motor generates electricity and keeps batteries charged. As a result, hybrids and electric cars can get significantly better mileage efficiency than standard vehicles.
"Audi has created a prototype regenerative shock absorber."
As the federal government continues to push for better mileage standards on the road, automakers need to look in a new direction to gain further savings. They may have found a way.
Mashable reports that Audi has created a prototype regenerative shock absorber, which will charge a vehicle's batteries using the force of bumps and potholes on the road.
The system, known as eROT, works by replacing standard shock absorbers with small motors, which spin any time the wheels move vertically. While individual bumps may not generate much of anything, every little bit of energy can add up over time. In fact, according to the news source, Audi claims that the system will reduce carbon emissions by 4.8 grams per mile.
It may be some time before such a system makes it into consumer vehicles. But shocks are important components that require attention from a vehicle testing service to ensure that they are functioning properly. This is especially true when additional complexity is built in.


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Nissan e-power set for NZ launch with all-new Qashqai
Search Driven for Nissan for sale
After a slew of SUV releases from the likes of Toyota, Kia, and Mazda, Nissan looks to jump in on the hype, revealing details around the new Qashqai SUV that will be landing later this month.
Featuring all-new looks, and a range of engine options, it looks like Nissan's popular SUV could be set to hit the ground running, as long as production issues don't hamper deliveries.
It's easy to see the styling differences from the last model, but Nissan also claims that this SUV should drive a lot differently. This is thanks to the new multi-link rear suspension system, according to Nissan.
As standard, the Qashqai comes on 17-inch alloy wheels, and features automatic LED headlights. On the inside, it gets a 7.0-inch digital cluster display, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
An impressive safety suite is also standard across the range, including Front and rear autonomous emergency braking with front cyclist and junction detection, blind-spot warning and intervention, traffic sign recognition, and parking sensors.
“The new Qashqai is the perfect example of style meeting substance, from its sleek exterior design and premium cabin to its advanced safety equipment and powerful yet efficient engine options,” says Nissan New Zealand Managing Director, Ben Hamilton.
Opting for a higher-spec model gets buyers a 9.0-inch infotainment display, wireless Apple CarPlay and a set of 19-inch alloy wheels.
In terms of power train options, buyers will get the choice of a turbocharged 1.3-litre petrol engine, or an e-power hybrid option.
Power and torque figures for the petrol-only Qashqai sit at 110kW and 250Nm, which is an improvement over the last model, despite the smaller displacement engine.
Set to arrive in early 2022 is the e-power Qashqai, which pairs a 140kW electric motor with a turbocharged three cylinder engine that makes 115kW, and serves as a petrol-powered generator.
First launching on the Qashqai next year, it seems that Nissan New Zealand is quite excited about e-power coming to the country, and with clean car discounts on the table, it isn't hard to see why.
While it's quite a complicated system, the simplified way of explaining it is that e-power vehicles use a petrol engine as a generator to power an electric motor that drives the wheels.
“We call e-POWER a best-of-both-worlds solution, offering a driver the key benefits of an EV drive experience without ever having to plug in,” says Nissan New Zealand Managing Director Ben Hamilton.
“Nissan prides itself on delivering Intelligent Mobility solutions in every vehicle, and nowhere is that more obvious than with this Nissan-exclusive solution.
“While a traditional hybrid adds battery power to an internal-combustion engine, e-POWER delivers an EV-like driving experience, including exhilarating acceleration and near-silent operation, all while drastically reducing your fuel use and emissions.
“We are looking forward to our customers experiencing this future-facing technology for themselves.”


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Last week, we touched on several online threats that were in the wild:
- Safe Browsing Scam: From Amazon to Rackspace. Senior security researcher Jérôme Segura observed that some tech support actors moved from using Amazon as their service-of-choice when it comes to serving their tech support pages to using Rackspace, another cloud provider.
- WebSearcher PUP applies Proxy Lockdown. Security researcher Pieter Arntz discussed WebSearcher, an adware that comes bundled with a variety of applications, including video players and codexes. It was found to use a proxy to insert advertisements. Unlike other simple adware, this one modifies affected browsers by making changes to their proxy settings, in turn locking out users from modifying them.
Notable news stories and security related happenings:
- Phish and chips: Retailers Face New Liability for Fraud Committed with New Chip Credit Cards. “While the technology giving rise to chip cards is new, the cards are already causing a number of security concerns. The FTC has recently issued warnings about phishing attacks asking people to click on a link and enter personal information in order to receive a new chip card. Further, there are concerns that the cards will be intercepted in the mail while on the way to consumers.” (Source: Advisen Cyber FPN)
- Microsoft Now Alerting Users To State-Sponsored Attacks. “The announcement comes following a Dec. 30 Reuters report that sourced former Microsoft employees and claimed the company did not tell users that Chinese authorities had hacked over a thousand Hotmail accounts years ago.” (Source: Information Week)
- Employees Take Sensitive Company Data When They Leave the Job: Survey. “A recent survey from secure communications solutions provider Biscom, measuring the behaviors of entry level to senior level employees in eight different industries, reveals that when employees leave their job, they frequently take and/or share sensitive company data, and businesses are not prepared to combat this.” (Source: Legal Tech News)
- As Internet Gets Faster, Volume of DDoS Attacks Grows, Akamai Reports. “From a security perspective, Akamai reported that it defended against 1,510 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the quarter, which is a 180 percent year-over-year increase. While the number of DDoS attacks rose, the top DDoS attack in the quarter came in at 149G bps, a decline from the 250G-bps peak reported in the second quarter.” (Source: eWeek)
- Android Malware Poses As Google App To Ditch Security Apps. “The malware has been named Android.Spywaller and it is being deemed as a unique threat because during the infection it searches for a popular Chinese security app Qihoo 360.” (Source: HackRead)
- Users No Longer Need to Jailbreak Apple iOS To Load Rogue Apps. “Security practitioners who’ve counted on the protection of Apple App Store’s walled garden approach now have something new to worry about: rogue app marketplaces are now using stolen enterprise certificates to allow users with even non-jailbroken iPhones and iPads to download applications through unapproved channels.” (Source: Dark Reading)
- The Splinternet: A New Era of Censorship, Surveillance, and Cyberwarfare. “Individual countries around the world want to lay down their own rules about the data that is released to their citizens. As these states slowly carve up the internet for their own purposes, it’s not just the universal aspects of the web that are in jeopardy— some fear the growing aggressiveness of individual states could lead to a potential cyberwar.” (Source: The Take Away)
- Adobe Fixes Flash Zero-Day Bug Discovered by Huawei. “Adobe has just released new Flash Player versions 126.96.36.1997 and 188.8.131.524 to fix a critical security issue used in the wild by attackers. Additionally, version 184.108.40.2069 has been released for Linux users.” (Source: Softpedia)
- The Next Wave of Cybercrime will Come Through Your Smart TV. “Smart TVs aren’t just consumer items, either, as the devices are often used in corporate board rooms. Sales of smart TVs are expected to grow more than 20 percent per year through 2019, according to Research and Markets.” (Source: CSO Online)
- Common Payment Processing Protocols Found to be Full of Flaws. “Much research has been done into the chips found on credit cards and the readers and number pads used with these cards, but Nohl decided to take a different approach, looking instead at the communications protocols used by those card readers. There are two that are significant; the first, ZVT, is used between point of sale systems and the card readers. The second, Poseidon, is used between the card reader and the merchant’s bank. Nohl found that both had important flaws.” (Source: Ars Technica)
- 15 Cybersecurity Lessons We Should Have Learned From 2015, But Probably Didn’t. “As is the case every year in the cybersecurity field, 2015 was full of lessons to be learned. Some brand-new, others that it’s absurd we haven’t learned from yet.” (Source: Dark Reading)
Safe surfing, everyone!
The Malwarebytes Labs Team


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BMW follows Tesla in raising prices in China, citing tariffs
BMW AG raised the prices of some mid-sized sport utility vehicles in China, following Tesla Inc as carmakers try to offset the cost of higher tariffs triggered by the country's trade war with the US.
The German luxury carmaker said on Sunday that it would increase suggested retail prices for X5 and X6 models, built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, by 4 to 7 per cent in China. Tesla raised prices for its Model S and Model X earlier this month after China's additional tariffs on US-made cars kicked in on July 6.
US President Donald Trump has imposed duties on billions of dollars in Chinese imports and has threatened more, prompting retaliatory measures from Beijing. Carmakers are among the trade war's most visible victims, though the effects are rippling through other industries including soya bean farmers, industrial chemical manufacturers and even lobster trap makers.
The additional tariffs are forcing carmakers to absorb the costs or pass them on to customers. BMW had warned earlier that it would not be able to absorb the higher levies completely and was calculating the necessary price increases. With the higher prices, an X5 sells for about the equivalent of US$107,000 in China, according to the company's Chinese website.
Some versions of Tesla's Model S now go for more than US$200,000 in China, and some editions of the Model X can be as much as US$230,000.
Cars made in the US face a total tariff of 40 per cent in China, compared with 15 per cent for cars imported from other countries. Manufacturers such as Tesla and BMW are starting or expanding production in China, the world's largest car market, to mitigate the effects of trade tensions and reduce shipping costs.
Ford Motor, maker of the Lincoln luxury vehicles, reiterated on Mon-day that it has no current plans to increase the sticker prices on its import lineup in China. Daimler AG last month warned that the higher tariffs were hurting demand for its lucrative SUVs like the US-made GLE. BLOOMBERG


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Robert Cringely speculates about the future of Apple Pro Apps:
…why, then, was Apple quietly shopping around its entire professional application business to prospective buyers at the recently completed National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas? These include Aperture, Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Shake — applications that are hardly also-rans in their segments and none of which are antiquated in the least. Final Cut, of course, absolutely dominates the video editing business. Why would Apple want to give that up?
The claim is that Apple is trying to avoid antitrust problems for it’s inevitable buyout of Adobe. Adobe has software that does the same tasks as Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, After Effects –
There is no Adobe equivalent of Logic though…
Plus, Apple just hit one million Final Cut Studio licenses – they want to dump that? Really?


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Lettuce Prices Head Back Down
The price of lettuce is heading back down to normal once again.
Extreme shortages had pushed prices up last month and forced consumers to pay nearly three dollars for each head of lettuce, shocking many grocery shoppers in the produce aisle.
Prices have dropped by nearly 50 percent since then but are still higher than six months ago.
Cold weather in Southern California and Arizona stunted lettuce crops and harvests earlier this year.


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GoPro recently reviewed its financial figures for the last quarter of 2017 and what seems to be rather unpleasant is its performance in the last year. Though it wasn’t as bad as 2016, but even the holiday season couldn’t boost sales while wrapping up the fourth quarter last year.
The company has been undergoing a rough patch as it recently cancelled the Karma drone and also lay off many of its employees. And if the revenue is to be considered, this quarter recorded the worst result since the company went public in 2017.
Nick Woodman, the CEO of GoPro had commented last month on the path the company was progressing on by saying, “The data is clear that our customers demand a couple of things from us every fourth quarter if we hope to sell them a new GoPro. They obviously demand that we introduce a compelling new model. And they demanded that we offer them last year’s model at a reduced price. And we failed on that second part. Hero 6 we nailed. Fusion we nailed. But selling Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session at the same price that we offered them a year earlier caused a problem.”
The company lost less money in 2017 than it did in the fourth quarter of 2016 ($55 million versus $115 million). And the year as a whole was a marked improvement on the abysmal 2016 it suffered. GoPro almost halved its losses from year to year and increased its cash balance to a total of $247 million. It is projecting operating expenses in 2018 of less than $400 million, which would be almost half of what the company spent in 2016.
Woodman had also said that GoPro will release ‘multiple new cameras designed to resonate with a broad range of consumers’ and will be available in the first half of 2018. It will also arm itself with enhanced analytics and get to connect to the customers for a better feedback and experience.


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"It seems like everything that's available in the IT industry today is offered as a service."
That's the perspective from Kevin Nyberg, a vice president and solutions architect at NaviSite, a nearly 100 percent recurring-revenue-based solution provider capitalizing on the booming services trend.
While many traditional partners in the channel try to convert to the recurring revenue business model, Nyberg said NaviSite's focus has been on services plays for as long as he can remember.
Recently, NaviSite saw a need in the market for companies looking to install and manage virtual desktop infrastructure. The technology was not particularly new or shiny, but Nyberg said companies were coming up against challenges in cost management and the complexity behind the architecture.
"So NaviSite has taken a step back and said, 'Well, if we can provide an offering where we are managing all of that infrastructure for customers that are looking to use VDI, and provide that expertise to them, perhaps it would be a very appealing offering to the marketplace, to offer it as a service," Nyberg said.
That DaaS (Desktop-as-a-Service) play won NaviSite, which recently appeared on CRN's Data Center 100 list, the Global and Americas Partner Network Award from VMware in the Service Provider Partner of the Year category in early February.
Nyberg predicts the next big play in managed services could be around security and compliance, a booming industry with several applicable verticals. Nyberg said he sees a real potential for applications in the health-care, retail and finance sectors.
"Perhaps in the not-too-distance future, NaviSite will have an offering around compliance and security," Nyberg said.
PUBLISHED FEB. 24, 2015


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Following tightened environmental law in China, increased monitoring and inspections have led to a widespread closure of Chinese factories.
FTA Board Member, Lea Rankinen, is listed as one of the 2017 top 20 responsible leaders in Northern Europe by the Nordic Business Forum.
The new BSCI module includes guidelines and trainings for BSCI participants and their producers to actively embed the BSCI 2.0 principles into their practices.
FTA leads inspiring talks on how businesses can fulfil Sustainable Development Goals through good communication and collaborating together at this year’s CSR Asia Summit in Bangkok.
Providing on the ground support, BEPI will expand its training opportunities for producers this autumn to Dhaka. Ask your producer to register now for a workshop on how to manage the environmental impact of their factory.
FTA Director General Christian Ewert advocated for open and sustainable supply chains at this year’s World Trade Organisation’s Public Forum in Geneva.
A stakeholder forum organised by FTA in collaboration with the Thai Ministry of Commerce, marks the start of a joint project to promote responsible business behavior in the country.
FTA has now extended its offer to provide services to new types of companies, thus increasing its leverage towards sustainable supply chains.
FTA joined the Global Goals Week campaign to drive efforts on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
FTA Director General Christian Ewert met with local organisations in Beijing to advance responsible manufacturing and sustainable value chain management.
The video encapsulates FTA’s stance on free trade and sustainable supply chains. It states that trade is a crucial ingredient for economic and social development across the globe.
All you need to know about the new website in a nutshell(click on HD to watch in a better resolution)
Also access the website FAQ
Are you looking for employment opportunities at FTA?Check our careers page


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Shoplifter sought by sheriff's office
WATSON - Deputies released surveillance photos Wednesday of a man who stole several items from a Livingston Parish Walmart recently.
Investigators said on July 9 the security team at the Watson Walmart saw a man slip an iPhone case and collector baseball cards into his pocket, then try to leave without paying.
When a security team member tried to stop the man, they said he shoved them out of the way and ran out of the store.
Surveillance footage showed the man flee the store parking lot in a black two-door Nissan 350Z.
Anyone with any information should call the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office at (225) 686-2241.
Desktop NewsClick to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
North Carolina police release dash cam shooting footage (Warning: Graphic Video)
North Carolina police release shooting footage (Graphic video warning)
West BR to implement traffic flow measures on LA 1 starting Monday
Man claims his severe losses came from contractor, not flood
Local teen prepares for 9th open heart surgery


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Tourism Promotion Event held in London
On the occasion of the World Travel Market 2012, Nepal Tourism Board -- in cooperation with the Nepali embassy in London -- organised a Tourism Promotion Event at the embassy on Tuesday.
|(From left) Officiating CEO Subash Niroula, Minister Bogati and ambassador Chalise at the event. (Photo courtesy: www.nepalisamajuk.com)
Addressing the programme, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Post Bahadur Bogati said that Nepal and UK had long and historic bilateral relations. He said there was very good response to the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign and about 800,000 tourists visited Nepal last year. He said Nepal had launched another new campaign Visit Lumbini Year and Nepal Investment Year 2012 and urged all for their active support and participation.
Nepal’s ambassador to the UK, Dr Suresh Chandra Chalise, said that the World Travel Market (WTM) was a major event that brought together major stakeholders in the areas of world tourism and provided an excellent opportunity to promote tourism in Nepal. He further said due to geographical advantage, Nepal remains a unique destination for European and North American tourists interested in adventure and nature tourism. He informed that the number of British tourists visiting Nepal increased by 27 per cent in 2011.
Making an audio-visual presentation, officiating CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Subash Niroula, said Nepal is known as one of the most exotic destinations for tourists from around the world. He said Nepal is a home of ten UNESCO listed World Heritage Sites and offered a range of tourism products catering to a whole range of tourists interested in trekking, mountaineering, leisure or mind/body/soul. He said Nepal also offered unconventional tourism products like Home Stay, Volunteer Tourism, Traditional Wedding and Agro Tourism.
Mr Niroula said in partnership with other stakeholders, NTB was working to increase the number of tourists visiting Nepal and also increase their average stay from current ten days to 14 days. “Naturally Nepal: Once is Not Enough” is our motto and we are working hard to disseminate this message, he added.
Delivering vote of thanks, director of Tourism Marketing department at the NTB, Ms. Nandini Lahe-Thapa, said Nepal has been designated as one of the top ten value destinations for 2013 by Lonely Planet, a leading travel guide publications. She also urged all to join hands with the NTB to promote tourism in Nepal.
Leading UK-based tour operators, travel agents, Nepalese entrepreneurs and members of media were present in the programme. nepalnews.com


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Transport Show is BACK!
2020 shut a lot of car activities down, including most of the car shows we all love visiting and participating in. But come May 20-23rd 2021, the TranSport Show is BACK!
The TranSport Show has been synonymous with being one of the best car shows in the country that brings out the most badass cars the Philippines has to offer.
In a recent post, the organizer of the TranSport Show stated that they were back in business.
"FINALLY WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS! AS WE REOPEN UNDER THE NEW NORM BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE COVID PANDEMIC... THERE WILL BE CHANGES IN A LOT OF THINGS ON MATTERS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS OF THE EVENT…
For interested participants, here are the links to the 2021 TransSportShow Event Deck and the 2021 TSS Reservation Form. Send us a message for inquiries or email us at email@example.com. TransSportShow 2021 Health and Safety Guidelines for Participants and Visitors will be posted as soon as available."
Photo of the Partspro.PH team at the 2019 TranSport Show.
While the pandemic and covid is still here, it's pretty cool to be able to do the things we love under the new norm. We hope to see everyone at the 2021 TranSport Show and we cant wait to see some of the Philippine's best cars out on display again.


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New farm and home supply store coming to Trumann
Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate and Development announced recently Orscheln Farm and Home will establish a new store in Trumann. The 32,375 square foot building will be located on a piece of property on the north side of Walmart off Industrial Park Access Road.
According to Joshua Brown, co-owner and principal of Haag Brown, construction on the store will begin in the next few weeks. Brown said additional plans for the property include putting climate controlled storage units behind Orscheln Farm and Home. In front of the store, on the side of the property which faces Highway 63, Brown said there are future plans for a medical clinic, and a restaurant could potentially go in next to the clinic.
"This is the biggest commercial project in Trumann since Walmart," Brown said.
Orscheln Farm and Home offers a wide range of products including farm and ranch supplies, lawn and garden supplies, livestock supplies and feed, pet care goods, home improvement supplies, automotive supplies, tools, fencing supplies, clothing and footwear, and sporting goods. Orscheln was founded in Sedalia, Mo., in 1960.
Brown said Trumann was the smallest town to have an Orscheln store of this size. Construction of an Orscheln of the same size was recently started in Jonesboro.
"Orscheln is an amazing company comprised of over 160 stores in 9 midwestern states," said Haag Brown co-owner and principal Greg Haag. "Our company has dealt with a number of different organizations through the years and have been thoroughly impressed by Orscheln's concept. We have enjoyed working with Jim Gillis and his staff on this project and feel like Orscheln will spur further development."
"We say this a lot," Brown said, "but we have worked on this project for a long time. The commercial real estate development business is a lot like farming. We planted seeds with Orscheln over a year ago and have been nourishing and cultivating this project since. With Orscheln's commitment to our community and region, we will begin to see fruits from our partnership. This project will add revenues from construction, new jobs, and annual tax dollars on gross sales from a company who is new to our area. We are extremely excited to finally be able to release this announcement."
Brown said construction should last for around six or seven months, and Orscheln would probably begin hiring in three months.


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Domestic truck maker Jianghuai Automobile Co (JAC) announced last week that it will produce new-energy vehicles in a 30 billion yuan joint venture with a foreign-funded company, the latest Chinese automaker to make a foray into clean vehicles.
According a recent JAC statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company signed a framework agreement on Aug 9 with Tianjin Zhengdao Stock Investment & Management Co to establish a 50-50 joint venture at JAC's home base in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, with a registered capital of 700 million yuan.
Total investment in the partnership will be around 30 billion yuan, with an annual capacity of 1 million vehicles, 1 million powertrains and 12 million kWh of lithium-ion batteries in the next eight years, the statement said.
With new-energy vehicle development now one of the hottest topics in China's motoring industry, the news received wide attention.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology just completed a draft plan for the development of energy-saving and new-energy vehicles that calls for the central government to offer more than 100 billion yuan to support the sector over the next decade and to foster three to five key new-energy vehicle manufacturers, said recent Chinese-language media reports.
JAC is among the many automakers in China eyeing the huge potential government investment, analysts said.
Industry insiders also believe the JAC deal is an effort to protect itself from a merger with Chery, the largest automaker in Anhui province.
The Anhui provincial government reportedly wants to form an even-larger auto group by consolidating Chery and JAC as each has advantages. Chery is China's largest auto exporter and among the top 10 in domestic sales, while JAC is a leading truck maker.
Unwilling to merge with Chery, JAC started making passenger cars several years ago, including its first sedan introduced in 2008.
The company, founded in 1964, leads the light-duty truck segment as well as the bus chassis sector. It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2001.
The other partner in the potential new joint venture - Tianjin Zhengdao - also makes the story compelling.
A subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd - previously called Far East Golden Resource Group Ltd - it is run by Yang Rong, former chairman of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd, which is now the Chinese partner of BMW.
Yang led Brilliance China as it became the first mainland enterprise to go public overseas - it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1992. He was named China's third-richest man in 2001 by Forbes magazine.
But Yang fled to the United States in 2002 after he was charged with alleged economic crimes by the Liaoning provincial government.
Last year Yang announced plans to again build cars, this time in both the US and China.
Hybrid Kinetic Motors (HK Motors), the auto arm of the Hybrid Kinetic Group Ltd, has selected Alabama as its first production site to make hybrid vehicles.
Yang's blueprint includes 60 billion yuan for three vehicle and engine production centers in China, according to previous media reports.
His company has been seeking local partners in several places. JAC became its first domestic partner, a necessity to secure a license to build cars in China.
JAC is a good partner with strong capability and experience in auto manufacturing, said independent analyst Zhong Shi.
The company sold about 274,000 vehicles - mostly trucks and bus components - in the first seven months this year, a surge of 60 percent from a year earlier. It moved 310,000 vehicles in all of 2009.
The major benefit for JAC is cash, analysts said.
JAC made significant investment in its passenger car business that will take some time to recoup, while HK Motors has advantages in managing capital, said Zeng Zhiling, an independent automotive analyst based in Shanghai.
JAC's sedan business is estimated to remain in the red this year and become profitable in 2011, according to a report by Huatai United Securities.
JAC would prefer to have partners to share the high risk of investment in developing new-energy vehicles, Zeng said.
While the race is on to develop various forms of new, low and hybrid energy vehicles, serious questions remain whether many technologies are ready for commercial production, according to analysts.
Reports by Industrial Securities and Nanjing Securities said the innovative technology needed will be brought in by Hybrid Kinetic Group and its motor unit, yet other analysts note the group's expertise is in capital management, not the mature technology needed to mass produce clean vehicles.
The partnership will need support in innovation as the current technology of HK Motors cannot meet the planned objectives, Yao Hongguang, an analyst with Huatai United Securities said in a recent report.
Zeng agreed that the joint venture would have to seek a third party from which it can buy or co-develop green vehicle technologies.
JAC's statement did not specify what kind of new-energy vehicle the joint venture plans to make.
According to Yang's plan, the automobiles his company will produce in the US are multi-fuel hybrid models running on natural gas, batteries and gasoline.
HK Motors last year signed a $250 million contract with FEV, a German engine and powertrain system design and development firm, which will develop an engine for HK Motors primarily powered by natural gas.
The technology will be ready next year, and the prototype will debut at a major auto show in 2012, previous reports said, quoting a source from HK Motors.